Computer system having a storage area network and method of handling data in the computer system

ABSTRACT

In order to construct an integrated storage system by reinforcing collaboration of components or functions of a storage system in which a storage area network (SAN) is used, in a computer system having multiple client computers, multiple various servers, multiple various storages which keep data, and a local area network (LAN) which connects the computers and the servers, a storage area network (SAN) which lies between the servers and storages forms a switched circuit network which is capable of connecting any server and any storage through fiber channel FC switches. The computer system further includes a terminal which is equipped with operation and management software which performs storage management including management of logical volumes in the various storages, data arrangement, error monitoring, management of setting up the FC switches, and backup for data in the storages.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to storage systems for storing data, inparticular, a technique relating to methods for the data protection ofhandled data, the data sharing, the storage resource management, and thedata handling.

At present, environment in which the information processing is performedhas been changing drastically as a result of development of the Internetand Intranets, and expansion of such applications as data warehouse,electronic commerce, and information service, and this change hasresulted in rapid increase in the amount of handled data.

For example, while the performance of CPUs has improved 100 times forthe last five years, the input and output performance of disk drives hasbeen held in about 10 times improvement. That is, the limit of the inputand output performance compared with rapid increase in traffic has cometo give rise to apprehensions. In addition, as applications such asenterprise resource planning (ERP), which processes a mass of data, anddata warehouse have come to wide use, and information to be processed(documents, drawings, visual contents, etc.) has been diversified andcommunicated in Multimedia, demands of enterprises for a total diskcapacity has increased two times a year on an average. Further, asstorage capacities used in enterprises and others have increased and useof storages has been diversified, the running cost of storages has alsoincreased. Furthermore, backbone data in main frames has been shared andutilized by individual departments.

Described below is the situation of the information processingenvironment resulting from increase in the amount of handled data byusing FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, relations between servers and storagesare established in such a way that, for example, a main frame (MF) as aserver for a large-scale computer, a UNIX server as a server for amedium-scale computer, and a PC server as a server for a small-scalecomputer are connected with their respective exclusive storages, forexample, RAIDs (Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks) and magnetictapes (MTs), and client computers give instructions to their respectiveservers via a LAN and perform data processing by using an exclusivestorage for the relevant server.

Recently, proposed was a Storage Area Network (SAN) environment in whicha SAN is constructed between the various servers and storages describedabove, and individual servers are allowed to access to any of thestorages. Here, the SAN means a network that connects multiple serversand multiple storages through fiber channels, and is used only for inputto and output from storages, and a SAN realizes the sharing of variousstorages, high-speed data processing between servers and storages, andlong distance connection.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

As described above, an SAN is being introduced into environments, inwhich the information processing is performed, in order to improve theinput and output performance, to expand a total disk capacity, to reducethe running cost of storages, and to expand data sharing. The SAN, asshown in FIG. 2, is a new type of networks that connect multiple serversand multiple storages through a high-speed network (for example, fiberchannels). In this environment, storages which are connected with theirrespective servers and are controlled by the servers are givenindependence from the servers, and at first a SAN used only for storagesis constructed. In addition, all users that have an access right areenabled to share storage information on the SAN network.

In addition, connecting multiple storages enables to improve the inputand output performance of the storages very significantly. That is, asmerits, drastic improvement in the input and output performance of thestorages (improvement in the performance), setting up and expandingflexibly a storage environment independently of server environments(improvement in scalability), unified storage operation (improvement inthe storage management function), disaster measures by expanding theconnection distance drastically (improvement in the data protectioncapability), etc. have been achieved.

However, existing proposals of SAN networks did not always discloseclearly concrete configurations or embodiments to realize these SANnetwork.

An object of the present invention is, in order to ensure the variousmerits and usability obtained by employing an SAN, to provide aintegrated storage system in which collaboration over the entire storagesystem is reinforced by devising concrete functions of a storage systemand corresponding concrete configurations, and in addition, anotherobject is to provide a method for handling data more usefully at anInternet data center (abbreviated to “iDC”), which connects storages tothe Internet and keeps and makes use of a large volume of data, byapplying an integrated storage system to iDC.

In order to solve the issues described above, the present inventionemploys mainly the following configuration of a computer system and thefollowing management method.

A computer system that is provided with multiple client computers,multiple various servers, multiple storages storing data, local areanetworks (LANs) connecting said computers and said servers, and astorage area network (SAN) lying between said servers and said storages,wherein said SAN forms circuit switched networks by fiber channelswitches (FC switches) to make a mutual connection between any of saidservers and any of said storages, and said SAN is equipped withterminals in which management and operation software has been installedto perform the storage management including management of logicalvolumes in said various storages, data arrangement, and errormonitoring, the management of setup of said FC switches, and the databackup operation for data in said storages.

In addition, the management method is a method for managing a systemcomprising servers, storages storing data of said servers, and a networkconnecting said servers and said storages, and the method works in sucha way that it obtains the information to identify data to be processed,obtains a specification of processing the data denoted by saidinformation, gives said specification of processing to said storageskeeping the data denoted by said information, and receives the result ofprocessing the data denoted by said information from said storages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the basic overallconfiguration of an integrated storage system relating to a preferredembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the overall configuration ofa storage system according to a prior art.

FIG. 3 is a diagram describing the primary functions of an integratedstorage system relating to a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the basic system configuration aboutthe non-disruptive backup in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 5 a and FIG. 5 b are a diagram describing functions or actionsabout the non-disruptive backup in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration in whichmirroring software is used about the non-disruptive backup in accordancewith a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the preparations done in advance in abackup system and an example of system construction.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating examples of various systemconfigurations for backup by sharing tape units, relating to a preferredembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a configuration for tape unit-sharedbackup in which multiple servers share one tape library.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration forasynchronous remote copying in disaster recovery, relating to apreferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration for high-speedDB replication between servers in data sharing, relating to a preferredembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating error monitoring and backup operationin integrated system operation and management, relating to a preferredembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating centralized management of the storageperformance in integrated system operation and management, relating to apreferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating storage management, in particular, theLUN manager and LUN security in integrated system operation andmanagement, relating to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating storage management, in particular,hierarchical control in a subsystem in integrated system operation andmanagement, relating to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating switch management; in particular,setting of zonings in integrated system operation and management,relating to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating outline of a system configuration ofan Internet data center in which an integrated storage system is used,relating to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating storage integration in an Internetdata center in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration fornon-disruptive backup in an Internet data center in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration for ensuringsecurity in an Internet data center in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an example of system configurations ofa large-scale computer system in which individual computer systems ofmultiple enterprises are connected mutually.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following describes a computer system in which a storage areanetwork (SAN) is used and a method by which data is handled, referringto the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the basicoverall configuration of said computer system relating to a preferredembodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the computer system in which the SAN is used consists of amain site and a remote site, and these sites are connected via a WideArea Network (WAN). At the main site, multiple client computers andvarious servers, for example, a main frame (MF) as a server forlarge-scale computers, a UNIX server as a server for medium-scalecomputers, and a PC server as a server for small-scale computers, areconnected via a LAN. In addition, a dedicated terminal in whichoperation and management software on integrated storage system has beeninstalled is connected with the LAN, and the whole of the integratedstorage system is operated, managed, and monitored by using theterminal. This operation and management software can be installed in anyof the client terminals instead of the dedicated terminal and therelevant client terminal is used for operation and management of theintegrated storage system.

Further, storages such as a RAID, a tape library, and a DVD-RAMlibrary/library array are connected with the server such as the mainframe (MF) server, the UNIX server, and the PC server via a Storage AreaNetwork (SAN) consisting of network switches such as a fiber channelswitch (FC-Switch) and a fiber channel hub (FC-Hub) not shown in thefigure. In addition, the main site is connected with the remote siteconsisting of the same components as those of the main site via a widearea communication network such as WAN.

Here, since the servers and the storages are connected through channelswitches in the SAN, the servers and the storages which are connectedthrough channel switches are enabled to be added, detached, and changedoptionally. Therefore, firstly storages are enabled to be added anddetached optionally to suit the storage capacity and the kind and object(access speed, cost, etc.) of data to be stored. The server sides arealso enabled to access these storages without any restriction via thechannel switches.

In addition, since the main site is connected with the remote site via aWAN, data can be shared between the sites, and a great amount of datacan be shared worldwide. In addition, if a copy of data at the main andremote sites is retained at each other site, even when either site failsdue to a disaster, etc., jobs can continue to run using the data at theother site. In this case, storages for backup data at the remote siteare not limited to the same type of storage as at the main site, forexample, not limited to copying from a RAID on the main side to a RAIDon the remote side, and hence cost reduction and simplified managementmay be achieved by copying from a RAID on the main side to a DVD-RAM ortape library, etc., on the remote side. In this case, the operation andmanagement software on a terminal for managing a SAN manages the copysource, copy destination, etc., of these data.

In addition, in a prior art shown in FIG. 2, clients are connected withan application-specific server, for example, a main frame, a UNIXserver, and a PC server, individually through communication lines suchas a LAN, and individual servers are also connected via a LAN. Storagesare connected with their respective servers. Therefore, data stored inthe storages could be accessed only through their respective servers.

On the other hand, in the preferred embodiment of the present invention,data stored in storages connected with individual servers are managed inan integrated manner via a SAN. Firstly individuals of multiple serversare connected to various storages (such as a RAID disk drive, a tapelibrary, and a DVD-RAM library/library array) via fiber channel switches(FC-Switches) of which the SAN is comprised. Thereby, data stored inindividual storages are enabled to be accessed directly from individualservers without passing a LAN. For example, access to a great amount ofdata, etc., is simplified. In addition, since storages for data areconsolidated into an integrated storage system, management of data andequipment is simplified.

In addition, in order to make backup and remote copies, etc., of dataagainst a disaster, individual storages corresponding to each servermust be installed and the data must be copied via a LAN according to aprior art, however, in the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, an integrated storage system consisting of a SAN and variousstorages is introduced, and hence the integrated storage system enablesto back up data, and furthermore remotely and more efficiently.

As a computer system to which a SAN is applied is outlined above, thecomputer system must be an information system that is intended primarilyfor making any information about the data to be handled available at anytime, for anyone, and from anywhere.

The integrated storage system relating to a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention, as disclosed in FIG. 3, firstly has as one of thebasic functions the data protection that provides the backup as ameasure against disk drive failures and the disaster recovery as ameasure against a disaster such as an earthquake and fire, secondly hasas one of the basic functions the data exchange and sharing among mainframes, UNIX servers, and PC servers and the data sharing in which manytypes and forms of information such as a database (DB), documents,drawings, multi-media contents are handled, and lastly has as one of thebasic functions the storage management (storage resource management)that provides unified management of storages that each server operatedand managed separately, and the environment set-up and storageoperation/management by standardized operations.

Concretely described below are details of individual basic functionsaccording to the present invention. These functions are realized byinstalling a program (software), which describes these functions, andnecessary data in memory of devices such as a storage, a switch, aserver (computer), and a management unit (realized by a computer, etc.),and executing the program on a central processing unit (CPU) in thesesdevices individually. In addition, a data center in which a SAN-appliedcomputer system consisting of a system group of a large capacity ofstorages and various servers is connected to the Internet and isequipped with data storage service functions, namely Internet datacenter (abbreviated to “iDC”), is constructed, and an inventive devicerelating to a method for processing a mass of data at that iDC is one offeatures of the present invention.

First the data protection is described. Functions of the data protectionare intended for backup of DBs during online operation, reduction in themanagement cost by sharing storage resources, improvement in systemavailability by means of disaster recovery, etc., and assurance of datasecurity, and thereby, enable to back up data without stopping a job(non-disruptive backup) for 24-hour-per-day, 365-day-per-year operationthat is expected to increase in the years ahead, enable to share a tapelibrary at the time of backup (tape unit-shared backup), resulting inreduction in the cost as well, and further enable to restore the systemrapidly in the event of a disaster by ensuring data security in copyingremotely at long distance (remote copying). To put it concretely, thedetails of the data protection are three techniques of thenon-disruptive backup, the tape unit-shared backup, and the asynchronousremote copying as described above.

Firstly functions or actions of the non-disruptive backup enableapplications to run even during backup operation by the backup using areplica of data, and prevent application servers from being affected byusing servers for backup only.

FIG. 4, FIG. 5 a, and FIG. 5 b illustrate a configuration for, and afunction of the non-disruptive backup in detail. An outline of thisfunction is to back up DBs without affecting online jobs via a SANwithout passing a LAN by collaboration between internal functions instorages and database management system (DBMS) in application servers.

FIG. 4 illustrates a series of a flow of the non-disruptive backup.First, by using said internal functions in storages, copying from thevolumes to be backed up (primary volumes) to the secondary volumes witha capacity equal to or larger than that of the primary volume in astorage unit is executed to make a copy of the primary volumes. Next,during execution of applications, the status of the database managementsystem (DBMS) in an application server is changed to a backup-allowablestate to prevent online jobs from being affected, and then the backupserver makes a backup copy of data in the secondary volumes to tapeunits.

FIG. 5 a and FIG. 5 b illustrate an outline of the processing by thevolume copy function that is an internal function of a storage unit, ina process of the non-disruptive backup illustrated in FIG. 4. Accordingto a prior backup technique not shown in the figure, originally, afterstopping the jobs which a server performs to a database (DB), a backupcopy of the DB is made to other storages, and after the relevant backupprocessing is complete, said online jobs to the DB is restarted.According to the prior art, online jobs to a DB must be in stop duringbackup operation.

In contrast to this, in one example of preferred embodiment of thepresent invention as illustrated in FIG. 5 a, a replica for backup,namely Logical Volume B (Logical VOLB), is secured in a storages and acopy is made in advance. When backing up data in Logical Volume A(Logical VOLA), the data in Logical VOLA is copied to Logical VOLB inadvance too. To put it concretely, if Logical VOLA is a backup target,two logical volumes of Logical VOLA and Logical VOLB are prepared inadvance and duplication is directed.

While data in Logical VOLA is being copied to Logical VOLB sequentiallyin the storage unit, when data is written to the storage unit from anonline job (JOBA in the figure) concurrently with the copying, theduplicated writing of the data from the job is automatically performedon both Logical VOLA and Logical VOLB in the storage unit. Aftercompletion of copying sequentially from Logical VOLA to Logical VOLB, ifdata is written from JOBA, duplicated writing is also performed to keepindividual data of Logical VOLA and Logical VOLB identical.

When performing backup, the backup server instructs the storage unit toperform pair split by using a means for controlling disk drives. Afterthe split instruction, although data is written from JOBA, the storageunit writes the data to Logical VOLA only, and not to Logical VOLB.Thereby, data present in Logical VOLA when the split instruction isgiven is left in Logical VOLB as it is. After the split instruction, thebackup software on the backup server reads data from the secondaryvolume, Logical VOLB, and makes a backup copy of the data to a backupdevice such as a tape unit.

However, for the volume duplication scheme illustrated in FIG. 5 a, aduplicated volume must be prepared before a time when backup isperformed. Therefore, in order to perform backup, volume duplicationmust be started further the duplication time before a backup time bytaking into consideration the time taken to duplicate a volume. Afunction of a storage unit illustrated in FIG. 5 b solves this problem.

In the case of FIG. 5 b, Logical VOLB to which a copy of Logical VOLA ismade must be prepared in the same way as for FIG. 5 a. Before startingbackup, the backup server instructs the storage unit to perform pairsplit by using a means for controlling disk drives in the same way asfor the case of FIG. 5 a. However, at this time, data in Logical VOLAdoes not need to have been copied to Logical VOLB. After the splitinstruction, the backup software on the backup server starts readingdata from the secondary volume, Logical VOLB. While data in Logical VOLAis being copied to Logical VOLB sequentially in the storage unit, ifthere in no data present in Logical VOLB when the backup server attemptsto read data from the secondary volume, Logical VOLB, the disk drivereads out data from Logical VOLA and hands the data over to the backupserver, or copies data from Logical VOLA to Logical VOLB once and thenhands the data over to the backup server. As a result of thisprocessing, although there is no data present in Logical VOLB at thetime of splitting, it appears from view of the backup server that a copyof data in Logical VOLA is present in Logical VOLB.

However, data may be written from the application server into a certainarea of Logical VOLA during the backup processing. Since data in LogicalVOLA is being copied to Logical VOLB sequentially in the storage unit,if the data from the application server is written into Logical VOLB bythe processing of copying, data after the split is also written intoLogical VOLB. To prevent this, the storage unit reads Logical VOLA'sdata currently present in the area for which a write demand is made andwrites the data out into Logical VOLB. After that, the storage unitwrites into Logical VOLA the data which the application server demandedto write. As a result of this processing, data present in Logical VOLAonly at the time of the split instruction is copied to Logical VOLB.With this method, data in the primary volume (Logical VOLA) does notneed to have been copied to the secondary volume (Logical VOLB) when thebackup processing starts, that is, system operation in which a copy ofvolumes must be prepared in advance is not required, resulting inimprovement of system operational ability.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of installing a system constructed for thenon-disruptive backup illustrated in FIGS. 4, 5 a, and 5 b. Theapplication server is equipped with DBMS and a means for controllingdisk drives, and the backup server is equipped with backup software anda means for controlling disk drives. As an advance preparation, themeans for controlling disk drives is installed, its configuration is setup, and operation of the means for controlling disk drives is checked.After that, when constructing an non-disruptive backup system, first aDBMS script (Logging in, Setting the backup mode, Terminating the backupmode, and Logging out) is created, a script (Pair split, Pair eventwait, and Resynchronization) of the means for controlling disk drives inthe application server is created, collaborated operation with thebackup software is checked, and parameters for allocation of logicalunit and the means for controlling disk drives are set.

In addition, in the case of another example of non-disruptive backupconfigurations illustrated in FIG. 6, the primary and secondary volumescreated with the mirroring software are mirror split according to aninstruction from the collaborating tool in the application server, andwhile backup is performed by using one volume (secondary volume), jobsare enabled to continue by using the other volume (primary volume).Then, after the backup terminates, resynchronization is performed. Toput it concretely, the duplicated writing to the primary and secondaryvolumes is performed with the mirroring software in the applicationserver, accessing a DB is stopped with the collaborating tool (software)in the application server, and accessing the DB is restarted aftermirror split is directed. Next, the backup copying of data in thesecondary volume is started to a backup device such as a tape unitconnected with the backup server by use of the collaborating tool(software) in the backup server. After that, the collaborating tool inthe application server that is notified of completion of the backup fromthe collaborating tool (software) in the backup server directs mirrorresynchronization and performs duplicated writing again.

Next, FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 illustrate the details of a configuration andfunction of the tape unit-shared backup. This function outlined isintended for reduction in the management cost of data that are scatteredamong many servers, and reduction in the load of a LAN with the resultthat high-speed backup is achieved. Further, by enabling a tape libraryto be shared among many server sides, the expansive library can be madethe effective use of (compared with the case where a backup tape unit isinstalled for each disk drive), and by sharing a single tape libraryamong multiple servers, backup data can be output directly to a tapeunit via a SAN without passing a LAN, resulting in achievement ofhigh-speed backup.

The left one of FIG. 8 illustrates conventional tape unit backup. Backupdata is copied from each disk drive of individual servers via a LAN,through the backup server, to a tape unit, and hence data passes a LANevery backup case, a load is put on the LAN. Further, a load is also puton the backup server every backup case.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, inthe case of LAN-free backup illustrated in the middle one of FIG. 8, thebackup processing can be speeded up by copying data from a disk drive toa tape unit via a SAN, and backup is achieved by use of servers withoutpassing a LAN. When performing backup, a single type of server can beused, and hence the load of servers is reduced. In accordance withanother preferred embodiment of the present invention, since server-lessbackup illustrated in the right one of FIG. 8 enables to copy datadirectly from disk drives to a tape unit, the backup processing can bespeeded up and the load of servers can be reduced as well. In accordancewith the preferred embodiment of the present invention as illustrated inthe right one of FIG. 8, disk drives must be equipped with a capabilityof writing into tape units, tape units must be equipped with acapability of reading data from disk drives, FC switches must beequipped with a capability of writing from disk drives into tape units,or FC-SCSI multiplexers (described later in the explanation of FIG. 9)must be equipped with a capability of writing from disk drives into tapeunits if tape units are connected to the FC-SCSI multiplexers.

FIG. 9 illustrates another example of configurations for tapeunit-shared backup. The configuration shown in FIG. 9 corresponds toLAN-free backup shown in the middle one of FIG. 8. In this configurationexample, two or more nodes share a tape library concurrently andindividual servers back up. In accordance with FIG. 9, Server C isdifferent in functions from Servers A and B, has a backup managerinstalled for managing all over the backup, in addition to a backupagent necessary to perform a backup operation practically, and isequipped with functions of assigning a backup drive, etc. Here, thebackup drive, for example, has three drives and assigns Drive 1 toServer A. When a backup demand is made from Server A, the backup driveis controlled so that a tape cartridge for storing is loaded onto DriveA. In addition, drives may be assigned to servers in such a way that thebackup manager manages the condition of drive usage, selects unuseddrives, and assigns a proper drive of them. In the structure shown inFIG. 9, a set of an FC-SCSI multiplexer and a backup drive correspondsto a tape library shown in FIG. 8.

Concrete operation of the tape unit-shared backup shown in FIG. 9 isdescribed below. First, the agent on Server A demands the backup managerto mount a tape cartridge. Next, the manager receiving the demand mountsa tape cartridge onto any drive of a tape library. Then, the managersgoes on to inform the agent on Server A of completion of mounting andthe name of the drive onto which a tape cartridge has been mounted.Then, the agent on Server A performs backup actually. To put itconcretely, Server A reads data from a storage, and writes the data intothe mounted tape cartridge through an FC switch and an FC-SCSImultiplexer. Following this, after completion of backing up, the agenton Server A demands the manager to demount the tape cartridge. Themanager instructs to demount the tape cartridge, and all the processingterminates.

Next, the following describes a configuration for and a function ofasynchronous remote copying in the disaster recovery as a measure ofdata protection. This is intended for assurance of data security bycopying remotely at long distance, for quick restoration of a system inthe event of a disaster such as an earthquake, for duplication of adatabase to a remote site without affecting the performance of the mainsite, and for continuation of a job at the remote site in the event of adisaster.

FIG. 10 illustrates a system configuration for asynchronous remotecopying. A main site and a remote site are located away long enough fromeach other not to suffer from a disaster at the same time in the eventof it and are connected through communication lines. When information isupdated at the main site and the updating is complete, completion of theupdate is reported to a server (without waiting for reflectinginformation on the remote site, that is, asynchronously). Next, updateddata is copied sequentially at a proper timing from the main site to theremote site; however, if data is not transferred in the same order thedata was updated at the main site, updated data is sorted by the timesequence in a system at the remote site and then the data is copied withthe sequence of update guaranteed (for example, if update data ofreceipt and payment of money are stored in reverse order, this can causeto force improper dealings in processing of remains).

Next, the following describes a configuration for and a function ofhigh-speed replication between servers in data sharing. As shown in FIG.11, when loading data between a DB on a main frame (backbone databasewith high reliability ensured) and a DB on UNIT/NT servers (for example,a database for which easiness in data handling is considered moreimportant than reliability of data when performing the statisticalprocessing of data, and on which hence source data necessary for thestatistical processing is loaded from the main frame DB), intermediatefiles as a file of the main frame DB are set up, and the data is movedfrom the backbone DB to the intermediate files once (becausespecifications of the data loader of a UNIX server are not defined so asto read data directly from the backbone DB). Since the data in theintermediate files is converted to such a level that the data loader ofa UNIX server can read, a replication of data is made in the DB on theUNIX server through pipes to prepare a DB for the required processing.At this time, data replication from the backbone DB to the DB on theUNIX server is done without passing a LAN, and hence high-speedreplication between servers can be achieved. Here, intermediate filescan be a virtual volume that is created temporarily on semiconductormemory, namely cache memory, on the outside of magnetic disk drives.With cache memory, data can be transferred at a higher speed.

Furthermore, in order that UNIX servers or PC servers can construct adata warehouse easily, by installing in the UNIX servers or theirattached units the software which is capable of performing easily andquickly in GUI base a series of the processing from extracting data froma variety of source DBs such as backbone DB, through converting andconsolidating data, up to loading data, the time taken to transfer datacan be shortened when constructing a data warehouse.

Next, the following describes a configuration for and a function ofintegrated operation and management of systems including storages. Forcomputer systems that are large in size and is required to run24-hour-per-day continuously, system management, in particular, storagemanagement is considered important.

As a typical function of storage management, listed is monitoring fordevice failures, in particular, what part fails in a device. Inaddition, required are system maintenance work such as backing up dataat each site periodically against a system crash, system settingmodification work when volumes are added, and further data handling suchas moving data in some volumes to other volumes when the performancedrops due to load congestion in a particular volume. At that time,monitoring the condition of the load is also important management work.In a conventional system, one maintenance terminal is installed for eachstorage unit, and individual storages must be managed from theirrespective terminals.

In a means of storage integrated operation and management relating to apreferred embodiment of the present invention, all storage units can bemanaged by a single terminal.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of backup operation and failuremonitoring in a large-scale office system. In ordinary officeenvironment, there are data used commonly within each department anddata used commonly by all departments. In this example, there existmultiple client computers and multiple server computers on floor A,floor B, and floor C individually, and a mail server and a World WideWeb (WWW) server which are used commonly as a enterprise general systemby all departments are prepared to provide their services to eachdepartment.

For a small-size data so that it is used by each department, in manycases individual departments can make a copy of their respective datafor backup, so a backup device such as a tape unit is installed inindividual departments. In addition, multiple large-scale storages tostore a large-size data and a backup device such as a tape library areinstalled at a computer center, and each device at the center, eachsystem on individual floor, and an enterprise general system areconnected mutually via a Storage Area Network.

A centralized monitoring console monitors all devices on individualfloor, in the enterprise general system and at the computer center, andall device failure reports are collected to the centralized monitoringconsole. Service personnel can identify easily what device a failureoccurs in by seeing the console. When data is destroyed due to failures,the data can be recovered (restored) from a backup device. This restoreprocessing can be also initiated from the centralized monitoringconsole. In addition, the centralized monitoring console has such afunction that service personnel leave the terminal unattended in somecases, so in such a case a mail is sent to a cellular phone, etc., ofthe service personnel from the centralized monitoring console to notifythem.

The centralized monitoring console also directs how to operate backupand manages the backup. The frequency of backing up and the requirementof a destination of backing up vary with the kind of data individually.For example, data almost unnecessary to back up (for example, dataupdated very rarely) and data accessed by only a particular departmentor person do not need to be backed up frequently. Or, even if attemptingto make a backup copy of all data at the same time zone, there is alimit to the number of backup devices. The centralized monitoringconsole rearranges the frequency of backing up, the time zone, or thedestination of the backing up in accordance with the data or volumedepending on the need of users, and automatically performs the backupprocessing individually.

FIG. 14 illustrates a diagrammatic view of the processing of setting upvolumes. In the case of a large-scale storage unit, multiple disk drivesare grouped to one or multiple apparent logical devices (LDEVs). Inaddition, the storage unit has multiple ports to connect to hosts orfiber channel switches, and which ports are allowed to access toindividual LDEVs can be set and changed for the storage unit. When ahost references an LDEV, the LDEV is recognized uniquely with the portidentifier and logical unit number (LUN) of the storage unit. Hereafter,this set of a port identifier and an LUN is called the host address. Inthe storage unit, this host address is assigned to individual LDEVs andis made open to hosts.

From the centralized monitoring console, a host address is assigned toLDEVs, and the type of hosts that can access individual LDEVs is set.Since all hosts are connected to all storages via a storage areanetwork, there is the risk that a host which is not allowed normally toaccess a storage gains an invalid access to the storage, so the type ofhosts that can access individual LDEVs can be registered in the storageto prevent invalid access.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of monitoring the performance ofstorages. The centralized monitoring console can watch the condition ofthe load of each volume. To put it concretely, the load condition is thenumber of times per second 10 operations are received, the ratio of readand write operations, the cache hit rate, etc. Generally, a load is veryseldom put on all volumes evenly, and volumes with an extremely highload put on them or volumes with nearly no load put on them may present.Since the condition in which an one-sided load is put on particularmultiple volumes can be monitored on the centralized monitoring consoleall at once, when watching this condition, a load is reallocated in sucha way that part of data on heavy-loaded volumes is moved to light-loadedvolumes, thereby operation plan can be drawn up easily so as to preventthe performance of a overall system from being dropped.

In addition, FIG. 15 illustrates an example of a case where a storageunit has the functions of reallocating volumes. Some storage units havea small capacity but a comparatively high speed of volumes, and otherstorage units have a large capacity but a low performance of volumes. Insuch a situation, it is better to move data which has a low accessfrequency to a large capacity of volumes, and data which has a highaccess frequency to a high speed of volumes. In the disk drives involvedin this case, individual logical devices (LDEVs) can be moved to otherareas.

In addition, reallocation of volumes is invisible from hosts both duringmovement of the logical devices and after movement of the logicaldevices, and volumes can be handled in the same as before movement. Diskdrives obtain the usage rate of logical devices as statisticalinformation, and send the information to a centralized monitoringconsole. The centralized monitoring console predicts how the usage rateof logical devices changes when a logical device is moved based on theinformation, and presents the prediction to service personnel. Servicepersonnel can draw a reallocation plan more easily than in the case ofthe previous figure based on the prediction. In addition, from thecentralized monitoring console, service personnel can instruct to movethe logical devices actually or not, or set in advance detailedconditions under which, when individual volumes are set in a certainstate, the volumes are automatically moved.

In addition, there is FC switch management as a part of integratedsystem operation and management, and the FC switch management enables tomake various settings of FC switches and to manage the status of zoning,etc. To put it concretely, it includes management such as the displayingof a fabric topology, the setting of FC switches' zoning, and thesetting/displaying of various parameters in FC switches, and these itemscan be watched on the centralized monitoring console. FIG. 16illustrates an example of configurations of a fabric switch (FC) lyingbetween servers and storages with the switch divided into three zonings.

Next, on the whole configuration of a computer system relating to apreferred embodiment of the present invention described above, thefollowing describes an concrete example of cases where a terminal inwhich the operation and management software illustrated in FIG. 1 hasbeen installed, namely a management terminal, manages and controls thewhole configuration of a computer system.

To back up (FIG. 4), which volume in a storage is to be backed up mustbe determined. Usually, a server manages data which an applicationstores in a storage in units of files. On the other hand, a storagemanages data in units of volumes.

Therefore, when backup is started, if the SAN management unit (terminalshown in FIG. 1, in which operation and management software has beeninstalled) is asked to back up a file by a server, the SAN managementunit obtains information to identify a file, information about a backupdevice (address on a SAN, etc.), a backup time, etc., from servers.Further, the SAN management unit obtains information to identify avolume in which the relevant files have been stored from storages. Next,the SAN management unit instructs a storage in which the relevant fileshave been stored to create a replica (secondary volume) of a volume tobe backed up using the obtained two kinds of information. To put itconcretely, the SAN management unit instructs a storage which has avolume in which the relevant files have been stored to assign anothervolume (secondary volume) for creating a replica of the relevant volume(primary volume) and to create the replica. In assigning the secondaryvolume, considerations must be taken so that a volume of at least thesame capacity as that of the primary volume must be assigned to thesecondary volume, and the SAN management unit must grasp how largecapacity and what configuration of volumes individual storages have.When the creating of the secondary volume terminates, the SAN managementunit, receiving this termination report, instructs the storage to splita pair of volumes, and instructs the backup server to make a backup copyof data from the secondary volume to a backup device while keeping theprimary volume occupied in the normal processing from servers. Thebackup server reads data in the secondary volume via the SAN, andtransfers the read data to the backup device. When the backup processingterminates, this is reported to the SAN management unit from the backupserver, and then the SAN management unit reports termination of thebackup to an application that asked to back up. Note that a time atwhich to split a pair of volumes is the backup time described above. Inaddition, a destination on the SAN to which to transfer backup data issaid address of the backup device on the SAN. Here, while communicationof control information between the SAN management unit and storages canbe performed from the SAN management unit, through a LAN, a server, anda SAN, to a storage as illustrated in FIG. 1, the SAN management unitnot shown in the figure and storages are connected directly via a LAN,said control information can be communicated through this connection.

In the above description, the SAN management unit plays the central roleto control reception of a backup demand, creation and split of areplica, the backup processing, and reporting of backup termination,however, software in an application server and software in a backupserver exchange control information directly via a LAN, and thereby canrealize the backup system without making use of a SAN management unit(FIG. 6). In this case, compared with the case where a SAN managementunit is used, individuals of software in the two servers mustcollaborate, however, the SAN management unit described above is notrequired, and hence this scheme is considered to be suitable for acomparatively small-scale system.

In the backup system described above, data is backed up by transferringit to a backup device through a backup server, however, backup can becontrolled so that data is transferred directly from the secondaryvolume in a storage to a backup device via a SAN (direct backup) withoutpassing a backup server. In the case where a SAN management unit isused, this backup is achieved by instructing a storage to transfer datain the secondary volume to a backup device after the SAN management unitrecognizes that a replica has been created and split. This instructionincludes the address of the backup device on the SAN, etc.

In addition, in the backup system described above, applications play theprimary role to specify the backup file and the volume, however, forfiles and volumes which are updated frequently and require backup everyday or every several hours, the load of applications can be reduced byspecifying periodical backup for the management unit and the backupsoftware in advance.

Next, the following describes an example of functions of a SANmanagement unit in the tape unit-shared backup (FIG. 8). In the case ofthe LAN-free backup, data backup related to individual servers is almostthe same in backup operation as the backup described above. Differencesfrom the above are that since data associated with multiple servers mustbe backed up, conflict of the backup processing among these multipleservers must be arbitrated, and so functions of arbitrating thisconflict are required from the SAN management unit. For example, the SANmanagement unit is required to have functions of preventing accesscongestion in a tape library by instructing multiple servers to back upaccording to the schedule made out in advance, etc.

The following describes an example of controlling the zoning functionillustrated in FIG. 16 as an example of operations of a SAN managementunit. In FIG. 16, cluster servers are connected to storages through afabric switch. Here, the fabric switch is divided logically, that is, istreated as multiple switches. Therefore, if the storage side outputdestination of the switch in Zoning 1 and the storage side outputdestination of the switch in Zoning 2 or Zoning 3 have been separated,cluster servers belonging to the switch in Zoning 1 can not gain accessto the switch in Zoning 2 or Zoning 3, and invalid access to the storageside output destination of the switch in Zoning 2 or Zoning 3 fromcluster servers belonging to the switch in Zoning 1 can be prevented.

Such set-up of zonings in the switch is enabled by connecting a fabricswitch and an SAN management unit not shown in the figure through a LAN,etc. not shown in the figure, and setting up said zonings in the fabricswitch according to an instruction from the SAN management unit, etc. Inthe case where a SAN management unit is not used, zonings can be set upin the fabric switch by using a dedicated console, etc., however,control information for zoning must be set at the location of saiddedicated console each time cluster servers and storages are added,changed, or detached, resulting in inefficient operation. By using a SANmanagement unit and setting up zonings from the SAN management unitthrough communication, the operability is improved.

A few examples of operation of an SAN management unit are describedabove, however, when providing various functions of the data processing,the SAN management unit basically obtains from servers and storages theinformation about files and volumes to be processed, a operation timing,a destination to which to move data, etc., and instructs the devicesrequired based on these pieces of information to process files andvolumes (replica creation, data copying, split of replica, backupcopying, remote copying, etc.,) according to the operation timing.Individual devices perform their processing according to instructionsfrom the SAN management unit, and return the result of processing. On asneeded base, they can make the SAN management unit return the result tothe client that asked to process.

To put it in order, a preferred embodiment of the present invention isconsidered to be composed of the following steps: step 1; an SANmanagement unit (terminal in which operation and management software hasbeen installed as shown in FIG. 1) accepts a request for processing datain an integrated storage system from applications which run onindividual application servers (this step can be replaced with anotherstep at which the SAN management unit creates a demand for data on itsown accord according to a schedule made out separately in advance), step2; obtains information (information to identify the data to beprocessed, a operation time, a destination to which to move data, etc.,)necessary for processing the relevant data, step 3; determines the orderin which the SAN management unit starts various kinds of functionalsoftware (software to execute replica creation, data copying, separationof replica, backup copying, remote copying, etc.,) which reside onstorages, network switches, and servers based on said obtainedinformation and makes out a schedule such as a start timing at which toexecute the functional software (this step is considered to be a stepfor collaborating individuals of the functional software), step 4;starts individuals of the functional software actually according to theschedule, step 5; obtains results of execution from the functionalsoftware on individual devices (this result at step 4 may affect theresult at step 3, namely a schedule), step 6; reports a result at step 5to an application that asked to process data. Note that this process isdivided to these steps for convenience, and two steps of them can becombined, or any step can be subdivided into several sub steps as aseparate step.

As described above, since a SAN management unit has functions ofcollaborating multiple pieces of functional software and operate them,the SAN management unit can realize easily complex functions thatindividuals of the functional software cannot achieve and the SANmanagement unit enables the more accurate data processing in anintegrated storage system. On the other hand, complex functions can beachieved by creating a single piece of large software withoutcollaborating multiple pieces of functional software, however, thisleads to a situation in which separate pieces of software must bedeveloped for each kind of the data processing, resulting in aninflexible system.

Next, the following describes how storage systems and storage areanetwork techniques are used in a large-scale computer system, using aconcrete example. FIG. 17 illustrates an example of configurations of anInternet data center (abbreviated to “iDC”), which has been expanding inthe number of systems recently. The Internet data center is entrustedwith Internet service providers (ISPs) and WWW servers of individualenterprises (this system is called “housing”), and provides networkmanagement and server operation and management. Further, it alsoprovides value-added services such as web design, construction of anelectronic commerce (EC) system, and addition of high-degree security.The Internet data center provides solutions together that solve problemsin enterprises, which want to do Internet business, such as shortage ofsystem staffs and their skill, and preparation of server installationplaces and networks.

Since high-priced equipment such as a high-speed network line is sharedin an Internet data center, there is a feature that an Internet datacenter, in provider's place, can provide services to many enterprises ata low cost. In addition, users and enterprises which utilize an Internetdata center are released from burdensome work such as backup andmaintenance and deal with a business at a lower cost than running asystem alone. However, since iDC runs many Internet environments andmany pieces of application software that individual enterprises use,high-speed Internet backbone lines and many high-performance serversmust be installed. In addition, these facilities must have highreliability and high security. In these environments, high-speed andhighly functional storage systems are indispensable.

The following describes an example of applying storage area networktechniques to a large-scale system such as an Internet data center.

FIG. 18 illustrates a schematic configuration diagram of an Internetdata center to which a large-scale storage area network (SAN) isapplied. Multiple server computers exist at each enterprise, storagessuch as a disk drive and a tape unit are consolidated to a few units,one or two-three units, and servers and disk drives/tape units areconnected mutually through fiber channel switches. Although individualstorage units must be connected to individual server computers in anenvironment in which a SAN does not exist, storage units can be sharedby all computers through a SAN, and hence can be consolidated andmanaged. In addition, when adding storage units, the storage units canbe added while a host computer is in online (in operation), so theaddition does not affect jobs.

In addition, from the point of view of backup, storage consolidationthrough a SAN plays an effective role. Here, FIG. 19 illustrates aschematic configuration diagram of an example of non-disruptive backupunder a SAN environment at an Internet data center. In this figure,individual server computers, storages, and backup libraries of multipleenterprises are connected mutually via a storage area network. Amanagement host exists on the SAN to manage storage devices and tooperate backup. Data in each server computer, for example, Web contentson a WWW server and data used by an application server, have beenconsolidated and stored in storages on the SAN.

The demands for backup is considered to be varied depending on thecircumstances of each host computer. For example, there are cases whereit is desirable that a backup copy of data is taken every day at a timewhen a load of access to a host computer drops, that is, during a timezone such as midnight for which the number of times access is made todisk drives decreases, or it is desirable that in the case of a hostcomputer which is very busy on the processing of an update type oftransactions, the host computer determines a backup start timeoptionally according to the time and circumstances, such as a time whena flow of transactions breaks. The management host accepts those demandsfrom individual host computers and manages backup processing properly.In addition, since 24-hour-per-day continuous operation is important atan Internet data center, interruption of processing on the host computermust be avoided and non-disruptive backup is mandatory. Described belowbriefly is an example of backup processing.

For example, if individual server computers want to make a backup copyat some timing once a day, the management host makes out a schedule ofthe backup beginning and ending for individual server computers. Forexample, a backup operation for a WWW server of Company A begins atmidnight, a backup operation for an application server of Company B atone in the morning, a backup operation for an application server ofCompany A at half past one in the morning, a backup operation for a WWWserver of Company B at three in the morning, and so on. Time taken toperform the backup processing depends on the amount of data thatindividual servers keep, etc., and hence the management host manageswhat amount of data individual server computers keep in storages, andcalculates the time taken for backup based on the amount of data andmakes out a schedule. In addition, if a tape library has multiple tapedrives, multiple backup jobs can be executed concurrently.

Taking as an example a case where a backup operation for Company Abegins at midnight, the following describes a flow of processing. Whenmidnight comes, the management host creates a replica of data, presentin disk drives, of a WWW server of Company A. For that, the managementhost finds out a free disk (logical volume) in a disk drive, assigns itto a volume for the replica of a WWW server of Company A, and instructsthe disk drive to create the replica. A flow of the processing ofcreating a replica is that as illustrated in detail in FIG. 5 a and FIG.5 b.

Following this, a tape cartridge is mounted onto a tape drive in a tapelibrary. After that, the copying of backup data begins from the replicavolume to the tape library. The server computer of Company A can performthe data backup processing, however, if the direct backup function bywhich data is transferred directly from the management host or a diskdrive to a tape library is supported (all right if at least any of adisk drive, a tape library, and a FC switch supports), this function canactually be used for backup processing.

In that case, while the server computer is not aware of whether thebackup processing is performed or not, a backup copy of data isautomatically made. When the backup processing is complete, the tapecartridge is demounted from the tape drive, the replica volume in thedisk drive is placed out of use, the volume is set to a free volumeagain, and the next backup processing follows.

In this case, since the tape library is shared and connected mutuallyvia the SAN, if the schedule of tape library utilization is managedproperly by the role of the management host, etc., one tape library cancover all their backup volumes even for multiple host computers. Inaddition, it is sufficient to prepare a replica volume only at the timethe backup processing is needed if the management host assigns volumesproperly, a replica volume does not need to be always prepared inindividual volumes, and hence the number of tape library units and thenumber of volumes, etc., can be reduced.

Next, though the merits of sharing of storage units through a SAN arelarge in cost reduction, on the other hand, there are considerations tobe taken in an environment in which servers of multiple enterprisescoexist. One of them is security. All server computers can gain accessto all storage units on a SAN via the SAN, so a server of Company C canlook at data of Company A on the same SAN. Next, described below areexamples of means by which to solve these problems.

FIG. 20 illustrates an environment in which server computers andstorages of multiple enterprises coexist on a SAN at an Internet datacenter. Under the environment in which storages are shared by CompaniesA, B, and C as illustrated in the figure, first zonings of an FC switchare set so that server computers of individual enterprises can gainaccess to a particular path only to storage units. Next, LUs that servercomputers of individual enterprises use are assigned to individual pathsin the disk drives. For example, if Company B uses two logical units ofLU1 and LU2, LUs 1 and 2 are assigned to the middle path, and if CompanyC uses LU0, LU 0 is assigned to the right path.

Further, there are multiple LUs on the same path and the LUs are sharedby multiple servers, however, individual servers do not want to share insome case. For example, Company B secures the path to access LU 1 and LU2 in FIG. 20, however, there may be a requirement in which only someparticular one of Company B's servers is permitted to gain access toLU1. In that case, access limitation is done by use of the LUN. The WWNof a particular server of Company B is registered in a disk drive, andit can be set so that only a server whose WWN has been registered cangain access to LU1.

These zonings, path assignment, and access limitation in units of LUsare set on the centralized monitoring console. The topology of an FCswitch is checked on the monitoring console, zonings are set based onthe topology, further as many LUs as necessary are mapped on individualpaths, and LUs that individual companies can use are registered.Furthermore, for LUs to which mutual access is not permitted within thesame path, the centralized monitoring console obtains the WWNs of hostcomputers that are permitted to access, sets them in a disk drive, andlimits access in units of LUs.

Next, described below is an example of applying a computer system whichuses an integrated storage system consisting of a SAN and variousstorages. In recent years, merge and consolidation of enterprises haveincreased. As a result, this gives rise to the need to integratecomputer systems among enterprises.

FIG. 21 illustrates an example of a large-scale computer system in whichcomputer systems of multiple enterprises are connected mutually. Hostcomputers among enterprises are connected through the Internet, andmutual utilization of data is achieved. In addition, by introducingstorage area networks, storages in individual enterprises are organizedso that they are also connected through a public switched network orleased lines.

From the point of view of computer system operation, integration of datais important. Usually, application databases that are used by individualenterprises are different, only straightforward mutual connection amongdevices does not make direct mutual use of data available. Therefore,generally, individual data from multiple databases must be consolidatedand integrated to construct a new database.

In FIG. 21, Enterprises A and B individually have a backbone database bywhich transaction processing such as account processing is performed,and an database of information system by which analysis processing isperformed in offline using data in the backbone database. In thisexample, the data of the backbone databases of Enterprise A andEnterprise B are integrated to create a data mart for various jobs. Insome case, a large-scale data warehouse is constructed once, and then asmall-scale data mart for various applications may be created from thedata warehouse individually. In the case where does not exist anenvironment in which storages are connected mutually via a storage areanetwork, when integrating databases, data must be moved through a hostcomputer and a network. Usually, many databases which enterprises wantto share have a large capacity, and hence it takes a large amount oftime to transfer data.

In the example in FIG. 21, a replica of Enterprise B's data is createdby using a remote copying function in storages. A replica volume issplit once at a frequency of once a day or once a week, etc., and areplication server reads data in the split replica volume to createvarious data marts. Replication servers exist separately from varioustypes of DBMS of information system which make use of data marts.Storages are combined mutually via a storage area network, and a replicaof a database can be created without putting any load on a host by usingthe remote copying function in storages. In addition, replicationservers that creates data marts, and DBMS of information system can berealized on separate host computers individually, and hence theprocessing of creating data marts does not affect jobs of a backbone DBand a DB of information system.

According to the present invention, an integrated storage system can beconstructed by reinforcing collaboration of components or functions of astorage system in which a SAN is used, and all various functionsillustrated in FIG. 3 can be achieved.

Further, by connecting an integrated storage system to the Internet andapplying the system to an Internet data center that keeps a largecapacity of data and achieves utilization of the data, Internetinformation services can be provided efficiently in the cost and both ofquantity and quality, and timely.

1. A computer system, comprising: a plurality of client computers; aplurality of servers; a plurality of storages which have multiple diskdrives and keep data in said plurality of disk drives; a local areanetwork (LAN) which connects said computers with said servers; and astorage area network (SAN) which lies between said servers and saidstorages, wherein said SAN forms a switched circuit network having fiberchannel switches and arranged to connect any of said servers and any ofsaid storages through said fiber channel switches, and said computersystem comprising: a terminal, which is connected to said LAN andequipped with operation and management software which performs storagemanagement, including management of logical volumes in said storages,management of data arrangement including moving data in one of saidlogical volumes to another of said logical volumes, management of errormonitoring for said storages, management of setting up said fiberchannel switches, and management of a server-less backup operation forbacking-up data directly from one of said storages to a backup storageof said storages via said SAN without relaying said data via any of saidservers or said terminal; wherein the operation and management softwareof said terminal realizes acquisition of statistical information ofresources of said logical volumes; and wherein the operation andmanagement software of said terminal manages said logical volumes insaid storages in accordance with said statistical information includingusage of logical devices composing said logical volumes, said operationand management software predicting future usage of said logical devicesgiven a proposed allocation of said logical devices based on said usage,and said operation and management software allocating said logicaldevices in response to a command based on said future usage prediction.2. The computer system as claimed in claim 1, wherein, when a backupcopy of data in a primary volume in said one storage is made to saidbackup storage in a non-disruptive manner, a secondary volumecorresponding to the primary volume is created by internal functions insaid one storage, copies are made from said primary volume to saidsecondary volume, the made copies are transferred from said secondaryvolume to said backup storage via said SAN without passing said LAN, andthereby backup is achieved.
 3. A computer system as claimed in claim 1,wherein in performing said management of error monitoring for saidstorages, said operation and management software of said terminalcollects failure reports from said storages.
 4. A computer system asclaimed in claim 3, wherein in performing said management of setting upsaid fiber channel switches, said operation and management software ofsaid terminal sets a plurality of respective zones of said fiber channelswitches and assigns said zones to said servers so as to restrict accessto said storages in accordance with the zone assignments.
 5. A computersystem as claimed in claim 4, wherein in performing said management of aserver-less backup operation, said operation and management software ofsaid terminal causes a replica of data, present in a logical volumeassigned to one of said servers, to be created in a second logicalvolume; and causes a copy of said replica to be created in a backupstorage without involvement of said server to which said logical volumeis assigned.
 6. The computer system as claimed in claim 5, wherein saidSAN is connected to a SAN in another computer system via a wide areanetwork (WAN).
 7. A computer system, comprising: a plurality of clientcomputers; a plurality of servers; a plurality of storages which havemultiple disk drives and keep data in said plurality of disk drives; alocal area network (LAN) which connects said computers with saidservers; and a storage area network (SAN) which lies between saidservers and said storages, wherein said SAN forms a switched circuitnetwork having fiber channel switches and arranged to connect any ofsaid servers and any of said storages through said fiber channelswitches, and said computer system comprising: a terminal, which isconnected to said LAN and equipped with operation and managementsoftware which performs storage management, including management oflogical volumes in said storages, management of data arrangementincluding moving data in one of said logical volumes to another of saidlogical volumes, management of error monitoring for said storages,management of setting up said fiber channel switches, and management ofa server-less backup operation for backing-up data directly from one ofsaid storages to a backup storage of said storages via said SAN withoutrelaying said data via any of said servers or said terminal; wherein theoperation and management software of said terminal manages said logicalvolumes in said storages in accordance with usage of logical devicescomposing said logical volumes, information of said usage being obtainedfrom said disk drives, said operation and management software predictingfuture usage of said logical devices given a proposed allocation of saidlogical devices based on said usage, and said operation and managementsoftware allocating said logical devices in response to a command basedon said future usage prediction.
 8. A computer system as claimed inclaim 7, wherein in performing said management of error monitoring forsaid storages, said operation and management software of said terminalcollects failure reports from said storages.
 9. A computer system asclaimed in claim 8, wherein in performing said management of setting upsaid fiber channel switches, said operation and management software ofsaid terminal sets a plurality of respective zones of said fiber channelswitches and assigns said zones to said servers so as to restrict accessto said storages in accordance with the zone assignments.
 10. A computersystem as claimed in claim 9, wherein in performing said management of aserver-less backup operation, said operation and management software ofsaid terminal causes a replica of data, present in a logical volumeassigned to one of said servers, to be created in a second logicalvolume; and causes a copy of said replica to be created in a backupstorage without involvement of said server to which said logical volumeis assigned.
 11. The computer system as claimed in claim 10, whereinsaid SAN is connected to a SAN in another computer system via a widearea network (WAN).